Italian Astana rider Fabio Aru took over as leader of the Giro d’Italia from crash victim Alberto Contador on Friday after the rain-hit 13th stage was won by Sacha Modolo.
Italian Modolo hung on in a sprint finish on his home stage to edge compatriots Giacomo Nizzolo and Elia Viviani at Jesolo, near Venice.
A mass crash less than 5km from the line saw long-time race leader Contador fall of his bike and the 40 seconds he dropped to Aru saw the maglia rosa handed to the Italian by 19 seconds heading into yesterday’s time trial.
Photo: AP
Australian Richie Porte also took a tumble and lost more than 2 minutes and is now well down the rankings and out of contention at nearly six minutes off the pace.
Aru, 24, who finished third overall last year, took the leader’s jersey for the first time in his career.
“It’s a great feeling to finally wear the pink jersey,” Aru said. “I’ve waited since the beginning of the race to finally take the lead and now I can look forward to the time-trial tomorrow [yesterday].”
“Today [Friday] was very hard, in bad weather on a route that was flat, but with lots of roundabouts and other paraphernalia,” he said. “I was always at the front; in a good position to avoid possible falls and what happened, happened. Now I’m just thinking of tomorrow. It is going to be a very important stage. I will give it everything, but the Giro ends next Sunday in Milan, not before.”
Spaniard Mikel Landa was third overall 1 minute, 14 seconds behind the leader.
Contador said he hopes his crash has only a minor effect after another fall during stage 6 damaged his shoulder.
“It was probably a clash with another bike, but I hope it’s just superficial although the problem is that I must already race with an uncomfortable position because of my shoulder,” the former Tour de France winner said. “I don’t want that this injury will affect the rest of my race and I have to think in a positive way, put some ice on my leg and give my best in the time trial.”
“Unfortunately I lost some important seconds,” he added.
On a day of steady rain and run over 147km of flat racing, Italian Marco Frapporti, Frenchman Jerome Pineau and German Rick Zabel opened up an escape before being reeled in toward the finish line. The accident then played havoc with the chances of several contenders, including Contador, before the rest of the pack raced for home.
It then came down to a long sprint finish that Modolo won by half a bike length after being led in by two of his Lampre teammates. “Finally I’ve won a stage, my great companion, colleague and friend, Max Richeze, gave me the perfect lead-out, and I just finished off the work of my team,” Modolo said. “At Fiuggi, I was disappointed with myself. At Forll the breakaway made it so I didn’t get the chance to sprint, so it was destiny that I would win my home stage.”
“I have so many friends standing at the barriers from San Vendemiano, my home village, that this experience is unforgettable,” he said.
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